Mercedes 1-2 in Nurburgring DTM Practice

DTM Series practice at the Nurburgring took place in wet conditions with Mercedes’ Gary Paffett coming out on top.

Paffett led team-mate and fellow Briton Paul Di Resta ahead of the BMW of Augusto Farfus.

The Bavarian team had all six of its drivers claim a spot in the top 10, with reigning champion Marco Wittmann in fourth place behind Farfus.

“Initially, it was very slippery. For us, this was good preparation for tomorrow. I like the Eifel and the Nürburgring. I have won here twice. Tomorrow, we will drive with maximum attack,” said Wittmann.

Rene Rast ended the session in fifth place and lead Audi with Nico Muller the only other Audi in the top 10.

Still getting to grips with DTM machinery in his first full season of the category, Rast has had not much experience in wet conditions.

“I haven’t been out on track too much with a DTM car in the rain,” Rast said. “The more laps I did, the better it went. Eventually, I was feeling very well in the car.”

Mike Rockenfeller is hoping for a positive weekend at his home race, coming off the back of victory at Zandvoort.

“We still have room for improvement, it will be difficult, no matter if in the wet or in the dry. We didn’t have a lot of grip with the rain tyres. There is no such thing as a home advantage on the track, but we are doing what we can.”

The second Free Practice session gets underway at 9.00 local time followed by qualifying for race one at 11.40.